Are we there yet? The Video doctor and how deadly diseases like Ebola are being treated

adminSeptember 19, 2016October 13, 2016General, Healthcare

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During the Ebola outbreak we were sent into a panic mode.

The Ebola virus is spread by direct contact, which can be through the tiniest piece of broken skin or via mucous membranes in, for instance, the eyes, nose or mouth. The source can be contaminated blood or other body materials and objects like needles and syringes. Protective equipment is needed for any contact with a patient.

The video doctor was quickly introduced. Odulair put a modular Ebloa-isolation unit on the market.

“The doors in the unit can open automatically, allowing a “telepresence” robot to patrol. It displays live video of a doctor or nurse, allowing them to speak to a patient. The RP-VITA, as the robot is called, greatly reduces the number of times staff must put on protective suits and step inside, says Anita Chambers, Odulair’s boss.

All fluid and solid waste, including things like needles and mattresses, is fed into a cylindrical chamber housed in a shipping container. This grinds it up with a macerator and then cooks it with scalding steam under high pressure until all that is left is a sterile greyish powder. Odulair’s isolation unit also incorporates a fogging system that sterilizes unoccupied rooms with hydrogen-peroxide vapour. Some hospitals disinfect rooms with remote-controlled machines, such as the Q-10 made by Bioquell, a British manufacturer, or a robot produced by Xenex Disinfection Services in Texas, which can sterilize a room in ten minutes.”

The concept was incredible. Therefor helping a market and generation of technology users and healthcare providers. By allowing the disease to stay contaminated it was preventing the safety of all healthcare workers that would have came in contact otherwise.

At the moment, the amount infected by Ebola is low. It may continue to grow in other countries who do not have the same advances in technologies as we do. My hope is that as these advances grow more countries will have access to them as well.